The One Where Double D is Gone
by Alicette Ryder
Summary: Accidents happen all the time. People die everyday. So why was this any different? Oh that's right, because it was Edd that was gone.
1. Back it up

Accidents happen all the time. People die everyday. So why was this any different? Oh that's right, because it was Edd that was gone. The cul-de-sac was empty of neighbors who would normally be happily enjoying the transition from Spring into Summer. It had been raining for three days now, longer than it ever had consecutively in Peach Creek. Seems even the sky was mourning the loss of the young one.

Edd's parents had never really been around much, the business type and such. After the accident they had come home and their car hadn't left since, save for a few trips into town. The residents of the cul-de-sac had all known Edd since they were young. There were some that were taking his death a bit harder than most. Starting with Ed, and Eddy. Over the years, carefree Ed had gotten a restraint on his overly excited tendencies, all thanks to Edd. He hadn't come out of his room ever since he heard the news; not even any of Sarah's half-hearted threats got to him. Eddy had stopped most of his scatterbrained ideas and plans back in Middle School, but still the idea of not having his inventor around was a disheartening notion. There also was another that was taking this hard; someone unexpected. Kevin sat in his room clutching Edd's trademark beanie. He knew things would never be the same again. Nothing was ever going to be the same without Double D.

But an ending has no proper place at the beginning of a story. Let's remedy this, shall we?


	2. Begin

The morning was the perfect time for Edd. He went through his normal morning routine, up at dawn and out the door by seven. Today was a special day though. It was the first day of Junior year. Though it was not as special as it will be in exactly one year from now, to Edd it meant he was yet another step closer to living out his young adult life as a well-faring college student. Of course, that was still two years away, but a boy could dream. This morning's sticky notes were neatly placed upon each other and folded just right to fit into his pocket. It had become part of his routine over the years to read them as he made his way to school so that he would know exactly what he needed to do after arriving home. As he walked his route to school he saw no signs of Ed or Eddy. _Odd _he thought to himself. His two best friends had usually met up with him upon leaving the cul-de-sac, but apparently that was not the case today. Edd squinted as he looked up at the sky. The sun had been up for a short while now, just long enough to cast it's warming light over the town. _It seems like today will be the epitome of a great day._ He thought as a small smile graced his features.

Kevin grunted as he rolled over in his bed. Somewhere in the distance he heard an alarm going off. He reached his arm out in the direction of his clock and slammed his hand down on the snooze button. He opened his eyes regrettably. Was it really that time already? He swung his legs over the side of his bed and got himself up. Within the process of a few minutes he gathered his belongings into his bag and had made his way to the garage. Kevin smiled a smug grin as he looked upon the item of what was going to make this entire year that much more bearable. His motorcycle stood waiting for him to ride. His parents had gotten it for him as an early birthday gift during the summer on the condition that he'd wait until school started back up to start riding it. He opened the garage and started it up and idled outside, closing the garage behind him. He slipped his hat off and donned the helmet (another unwanted condition his parents had set) before getting on and heading out. _This year was going to be great. _He thought as the wind flowed past him.

* * *

"Double D!" Came a known voice from down the hall.

Edd turned towards the voice just in time to side step away from his locker to avoid Ed's impending tackle. He looked down at Ed who was now laying face down on the floor and crouched down to him. "Why hello Ed. You seem very delighted to be back in the center of learning." He said giving the tall boy a pat on the head. "I missed you Double D." He said looking back at him. "I was only gone for 3 weeks Ed." Edd said explaining to him.

"Doofus down there still has a problem with time." Eddy's voice came from above.

Double D stood back up and righted himself. "Good morning to you as well Eddy."

Eddy leaned up against the lockers and crossed his arms. "I don't see what's so good about it Double D. We're stuck here for another long year."

"On the contrary Eddy. The school year only consists of-"

"Yeah yeah, we all know you have all the days counted. That's not the point. The point is how are we going to make this year bearable?" He said, looking like he was thinking up about a dozen ideas already.

"Pool of Jello!" Ed shouted from the ground, throwing his hands up.

Edd stood and chuckled to himself. These were his best friends. Ever since he had moved to Peach Creek oh so long ago. Though the three of them had not always got the most pleasant looks from others around them, and most considered them to be the lowest of the low on the social ladder, they had accepted all of his quirks.

Well, almost all of them. This summer had brought forth an interesting discovery in Edd's small world.

He was gay.

Although it hadn't really come as much of a surprise to him. He had never once shown any interest in women. Then again he'd never shown any interest in men either, but Science camp had made a small dent there. Spin the bottle on the first night there. It had been such a trivial thing for them to do, but none the less Double D had joined in with them. He had nothing to lose, he had known this same group of teens for two years now, keeping in contact with them via emails and skype chats during the rest of the year. But it seemed the fates of the world wanted to let him know something before the school year started. The last spin had landed upon him. At first he hadn't realized who had spun, but soon it had become apparent, when his friend Anthony's lips were pressed against his. And that was the beginning of that. Tony and him had a short lived relationship, deciding to end it before they left for home. But he couldn't tell the others. Eddy already made so much fun of Jimmy, who had come out publicly two years ago. But for Jimmy, everyone had already known. He was different. He was Edd, Double D, the brainy geek with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

So he'd keep it to himself. They didn't have to know, not yet at least. Maybe in a few years or-

Double D's stream of thoughts were cut short by a hit to the head. Whatever had struck him had great force behind it, enough to knock hit off his feet. When he gathered his bearings he looked around for the cause of the thumping in his head. A few inches away from his head was a football. He held his head and sat up grabbing the ball.

"Don't worry you only hit one of the dorks." Came Kevin's voice from the hall. Double D 's eyes widened slightly. Kevin and the rest of the football team usually jeered them from down the hall. As of right now Kevin now stood looming over him, or was he to the side of him; Double D's vision had gone a bit crossed. "Are you going to hand over the ball Double Dweeb, or am I going to need to take it myself?" he said. Double D lifted his hand with the ball in it, up to Kevin. "Here is your football." He said holding his head with his other hand. Kevin took the pigskin from him and turned tossing it down the hall towards the others. He grabbed Double D's hand and pulled him up to his feet, watching him sway back and forth. "Get yourself to the nurse." He muttered to him before walking away.

Double D blinked a few times before shaking his head gently. The throbbing in his head had subsided but the pain was still there. _Oh goodness what if I've gotten a concussion. _Edd thought as he looked to Eddy and Ed who was now standing up.

"What was that about?" Eddy asked him.

'What was what about Eddy?" Edd countered.

"Why was Kevin acting so weird?" He asked.

Double D for once in his life looked confused. Had Kevin acted oddly? "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean Eddy."

"Did the ball hit you that hard? Kevin _helped_ you. Kevin never helps any of us."

Eddy had a point, Kevin hated them. So why would he help him. _Get yourself to the nurse._ His voice reverberated in his head. "I'm sorry Eddy, but I should get myself to the nurse post-haste. Head injuries are not something one should take lightly." He said scuttering off in the opposite direction, towards the nurses office, as the bell for class rang.

In the nurses office the nurse had taken his vitals and said that he was concussion free, but that he should lay down and rest for the remainder of first hour. Double D internally kicked himself for being in the range of the ball as he lay in one of the beds in the back room. His attendance record had been absolutely perfect up until now. He sighed and turned to his side, pulling his knees up to his chest and yanking his hat down over his eyes.

He was about to close his eyes when he heard the door to the nurses office open. "What can I do for you, hun." He nurse asked whoever walked in. Double D lifted his hat up slightly, giving his eyes just barely enough room to look around. "Medication." A hushed voice said from the front room. "The cabinet is in the back." She said. Double D looked around the room seeing a cabinet full of medications on the wall he was facing. All medications any student took had to stay within the nurses office at all times. His inhaler has among one of his different types of medications were in the cabinet, clearly labeled with his name on it. He heard whoever was coming back there enter the room just as he was about to face the opposite way, it was too late now and the student had already reached the cabinet.

_No, no, no. This day couldn't get any worse could it?_ Double D thought as he stared at the backwards facing cap on the student. Kevin took a few pills out of one container and popped them in his mouth swallowing them down with a small cup of water. He turned to toss his cup when he caught sight of Double D. Things had decided to get worse for Double D very quickly.

Kevin was by him grabbing him by the collar without wasting any time. "You didn't see anything, did you dork?" He asked Double D, irritation clear in his voice.

"N-No, n-nothing at all. I was just laying here recuperating from my recent head injury." Double D sputtered out, all color in his face washed out.

Kevin released him back onto the bed and walked away from him. "You say anything about this and you are dead." He said with promise in his voice.

Double D stayed frozen in place until he heard the door to the nurse's office close. He let out a held breath and regained a natural heartbeat. He looked back over to the cabinet. Kevin takes medication? Obviously it was something important if he got so defensive about someone else, let alone Double D seeing it. And he must have been taking it for a while since the nurse didn't walk him back. But what was it for?

Curiosity gripped hold of Double D's mind and he got up from the bed. He carefully and silently made his way to the cabinet. Peeking inside he saw one bottle that was turned more slightly to the right than the others. He carefully turned it to match the rest and caught Kevin's name on it. _This is private, and no less Kevin's. I shouldn't._ Double D closed the cabinet. But not before he caught the name of the medication.

_Alprazolam. _He thought to himself as he layed back down on the bed. _That's Xanax. Does Kevin have an anxiety disorder?_


	3. Spiral

After the fiasco in the nurses office Double D had gone to his second hour class at the sound of the bell. A good majority of his classes were honors or advanced placement, meaning he only shared a few with the other Eds. Spanish was specifically one that he had taken to have time away from them. The Spanish language was something that he had taken up for better qualifications, but it was also something that came naturally. He walked into the classroom and greeted the teacher before finding a seat. Though the seat he would have normally sat in was already taken up by another student. He scanned the classroom looking at the tables available. If he sat too close to the back, he would be a perfect target for any sports team members, but if he sat too close to the front he would be called upon too often. So he decided on a seat close to the window in the middle row of the room. The sunlight was warm on the skin of his arm as he took his seat. The late bell rang as a large portion of the class piled into the room. There were a few familiar faces, most had taken Spanish II with him the year before. But some seemed to be transferred in from the teacher's other Spanish II classes.

Double D smiled and waved a little as he saw Nazz as she walked in. She was one of the more sensible people he knew from the cul-de-sac. She pulled the camera that she wore hanging around her neck up to her eye as she turned to face him. He barely had enough time to react before the flash went off. "Sweet candid, dude. Thanks." She said before turning back around. Double D sat back in his chair blinking a few times to clear the flash from his eyes.

A few students flowed into the class a few minutes after the bell and their tardiness was brushed off by the teacher as she began her lesson. Edd felt the presence of someone behind him, as well as a strong heat on his back before he felt the hands at his shoulders. He tensed up suddenly, there really was no need for violence so early in the year was there? He swallowed the lump of nerves in his throat. "Would you kindly please desist your actions." He said quietly to the person.

The student behind him just laughed silently. "Don't worry cutie, I don't don't bite. Well unless you want me to."

Double D sighed a breath of relief and relaxed. He had dodged a bullet with this one. "Thank you Nathan, but I would still appreciate it if you would remove your hands please." He explained, turning his head slightly around and removing one of his hands. _One on knows where they have been._

Edd had known Nathan for about a year now. Though he was on the football team, and best friends with Kevin, he had a sensible head on his shoulders. On his first trip to the planetarium he had helped Edd find his way around before talking to him for a while. After realizing they went to the same school Nathan had seemed all the more excited to have met him. Edd enjoyed his company at the time, though his words were a bit racy.

Nat rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, bringing his arms to rest behind his head. "C'mon Double D, it's Nat not Nathan. The last word coming out like a silent hiss. "I've got a reputation to uphold, ain't that right Kevin?"

"My apologies." Edd said as he turned back around quickly.

How did he not see him there before? It was obvious now that the heat he had been feeling earlier was Kevin's eyes on him. He must have still been upset about what had happened in the nurses office.

_You say anything about this and you are dead_

The words rang in his head as he buried himself into the textbook for the remainder of the class.

* * *

Kevin made sure to be the first one out of the classroom when the bell rang. The shorter time he was in the same room as the dweeb, the better. Nat had been on his heels the very second he left the room.

"So what was that all about back there?" He questioned. "Seemed to me like you were trying to burn a hole through Double D's head."

"Yeah, so what?" He snipped.

"So, that would be a bad thing. Why would you want to ruin a pretty little head like his?" Nat said with a smirk.

Kevin said nothing and turned on his heel, walking down the hall. Nat stood against the lockers, smirk plastered against his face.

* * *

Edd's next few classes had gone swimmingly, with the exception of Eddy making a scene. Of course the day was only a class away from being over with, and of course that last class had to be the one he'd been dreading all day. Physical Education. It had only been a few years ago when the school had passed the rule of each student having PE every year. Though the only reason he had passed was thanks to Ed and Eddy, it would seem to be that he was going to have to try to do this on his own this year.

After waiting for the masses to leave the locker room, Edd made his way to the bathroom stalls to change into his uniform. Shortly after he made his way to the gymnasium after folding his clothing and placing it in his locker. He looked around the gym to see the coach splitting the class into two teams. He was placed on the left side of the gym with no one he knew, but three things became highly apparent within the next few seconds.

1. He was in a class filled with a majority of sports players.

2. The coach was starting the class with a game of dodgeball.

and 3. Kevin was staring him down from the opposite side of the gym.

_Oh dear._ He thought as the coach blew the whistle. Red bouncing balls whizzed past his head and his the wall behind him with a resounding force. Edd's eyes widened as he began to move around to avoid being his by the balls. After a few minutes Kevin and two others were on the other side, and himself and one other girl- BAM- scratch that, just him now. All eyes were on him now. He leaned over keeping his attention on the three on the other side of the gym, and picked up the ball closest to him. He wouldn't throw it, he couldn't it just wasn't in him to hurt another on purpose, he would use it to deflect the incoming balls if he could.

He couldn't.

The last thing Edd remembered was all three balls flying directly at his head, and then the next thing he knew he was staring up at the ceiling. There were a circle of students surrounding him and looking down, watching him. He turned his head to the side that had less people watching him only to see the reason why they were all staring at him.

There, not more than a foot away from him lay his beanie settled on the floor. Edd's eyes grew large and he scrambled for it and shoved it back on his head. Though by now it was clearly no use. What the small congregation of students saw beneath his hat was not what they had expected. Along with Edd actually having hair, they snickered at the fact that within the black a large streak of white was noticeably seen. They chuckled at him and disbanded into their own smaller groups leaving Edd alone. He made his way to the bleachers and sat in the top corner, as far away from everyone else as he could. He stuck his hand under his hat checking for any signs of a concussion, but was relieved when he felt nothing but his parents notes.

But they had all seen now. The biggest question concerning himself, what really was under his hat. Edd no doubt knew that the few weeks would be full of teasing and jests about it all. He curled his knees to his chest and looked out at the rest of them. He heard the gym door open and saw Kevin the other two that had been on the opposing team coming in followed by the coach. He watched as Kevin looked around then straight up at where the others were pointing to. What Edd didn't expect was to see him climb up towards him.

"Listen Double Dweeb. I'm not here because I want to. The coach said if I didn't apologize he'd keep me on the bench for the first game of the season." He said arms crossed.

"Apology accepted Kevin." Edd mumbled from his current position.

"Yeah. Uh, so what's with the hair." He asked curiously, nodding towards his head as he sat down.

"I was born this way. It's merely a birthmark." Edd said. "When they appear on the scalp, they tend to discolor the hair that grows there." He continued explaining. Edd kept an eye on Kevin as he looked around. Why was he still here? He hadn't said anything about earlier.

"You're going to get shit for this." He said without looking back at him. "So now you're going to owe me."

"I beg your pardon?" Edd said confused.

When Kevin turned around he had that look in his eye that only spelled trouble. "You're going to owe me for becoming a personal bodyguard."

"B-bodyguard?!"


End file.
